Washington, DC – Following Israel’s airstrike targeting Hamas leadership in Doha, J Street Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg issued the following statement:
“You can vehemently oppose Hamas’ commitment to terror and its vile leadership and also recognize that by targeting negotiators, this strike will undermine what should be the top priority – getting hostages home, ending the war and surging aid into Gaza. Diplomacy is the only way to end this war. You can’t negotiate freedom for hostages by killing the negotiators.
As former heads of the Shin Bet, Mossad and the IDF have made clear, Hamas no longer has the capacity to pose a significant threat to Israel. Killing its Doha-based leadership will not end the war, free the hostages or defeat Hamas. New Hamas leaders will rise up, as they have before, and Israel will just find itself playing whack-a-mole again and again. Only an end to the war and a post-war ‘day after’ plan to replace Hamas with governing and security mechanisms to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza can provide the necessary security and stability so desperately needed for both peoples.
It is also deeply alarming that the strike came as Hamas leaders were meeting to deliberate on a US ceasefire proposal, fundamentally undermining the role of the United States as mediator. It is also stunning that this airstrike was conducted in broad daylight in Qatar – a US partner, host of a major US military base and a key mediator in the ceasefire negotiations. This reckless move will only deepen Israel’s diplomatic isolation and further damage the prospect of regional normalization.
The Israeli government must stop pursuing endless war and undermining ceasefire efforts, and instead put forward a credible offer to end the war, free the hostages and surge aid to Gaza.”